Experian is all about turning insights into action… using data for good. Our commitment is to work with our clients, consumers, non-profits and other parties to help ensure that we, as a company and within society, continue to properly leverage big data for good. As part of that effort, every other week we bring you Experian Insights – a round-up of news and resources highlighting how data is used for positive business, consumer and societal actions in many ways and across multiple sectors. Experian Insights in the News Data Scientists In Demand: Experian DataLab’s Eric Haller Weighs In – Dataversity Bloomberg BNA story highlights Experian's innovative approach of using social media as a form of data – Bloomberg BNA How to land a high-paying data science job (even if you have the wrong background) – Inc. The Effects of Dirty Email Data – Direct Marketing News Putting big data to work for good causes – The Hub Experian recognized as a finalist for Cloudera’s 2015 Data Impact awards – Experian News blog The science behind Big Data – Analytic Bridge The science behind Big Data – Inside Big Data Experian's data-first marketing suite – The Hub Data is today's MarTech purchase driver – Direct Marketing News How Experian is using Big Data -Information Management How Experian is using Big Data – Data Science Central Smart cities of the future – The Hill Q&A: Improving decision-making and increasing value using Big Data analytics – Financier Worldwide Magazine Overcome these three common data barriers for mobile marketing success – iMedia Connection Still drowning in Big Data, and starving for insights – Inc. Big Data: The force that's good for consumers and society – Experian News blog Why a single customer view is the foundation for marketing success – eMC New O.C. program helps homeless people fix their credit – The Orange County Register Focus on customers, not technology – Adexchanger Device intelligence and Big Data linkage: guarding consumer access points from the fraudsters – Black Swan Small business, job creation, and why we should lend to young companies – Forbes Using data to manage the cost of healthcare – Experian News blog What’s Bigger than Big Data – AdExchanger “It’s not about the cloud; it’s about the customer” Emad Georgy of Experian Marketing Services [Retweet] Mobile Payments: Innovative, but with Security Concerns – Mobile Payments Today The Data Breach Resolution group releases study about payment card breaches addressing concerns over new payment technologies & security. [Retweet] Everything You Need to Know to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft – His and Her Money Whether you want to learn how to prevent identity theft from happening to you, or you want to learn what steps to take if it happens to you, take a listen. [Retweet] Dealers Might Not See Much Green with Alternative Vehicles – Auto Remarketing Insight into the different segments of the vehicle market allows consumers to paint a clearer picture of what options are most popular. [Retweet] Experian Credit Tracker for iOS: Handsome, Intuitive, Secure- Mac Observer Experian puts your credit data at your fingertips with its new app. [Retweet] What is a Data Scientist? #DataTalk To be a a data scientist (at least a good one), you need to follow the data. – Dr. Michael Wu [Retweet]
Do you know the requirements of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) section 623? How accurate is your data? How do you know? These are the questions data furnishers should be asking themselves as they start thinking about how to meet their regulatory obligations related to data accuracy. Minimizing regulatory risk and exposure is certainly top of mind for anyone that is engaged in the credit eco-system – the lender, the credit bureau, the consumer. While heavy fines and penalties can take a toll on an organization’s checkbook, the reputational impact to the company’s brand and customer experience can have a lingering, and often worsening, effect. It’s important to think about the consequences of inaccurate credit data from the consumer perspective; inaccuracies can have an impact on a consumer getting a job, buying his or her first home, or getting a low interest rate. Experian® understands the value of an accurate credit report. We have the ability to help data furnishers not only understand regulatory requirements, but help to drive a positive experience for the consumer through Experian Data Integrity ServicesSM. Hear more about our products and services that provide robust data-quality analysis. What do the FCRA furnisher rules really mean? Why does it matter? The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) section 623 mandates that when providing consumer credit information to the credit bureaus, data furnishers (regardless of size) must ensure accuracy and completeness. Without this, financial institutions will experience more regulatory pressure, higher dispute volumes and unhappy customers. While ensuring data accuracy and completeness may seem like a very broad mandate that can be a bit overwhelming, Experian can help. The first step to compliance is to understanding what the rules mean and the reasons behind them. During our Vision 2015 session, Experian will break down section 623 of the FCRA and describe the specific obligations of data furnishers related to sending accurate data to the credit bureaus, correcting errors, and what it means to investigate and understand disputes. See Experian Data Integrity Services in action during a live demo of our dashboard which provides financial institutions with a deeper understanding of their disputes and how they compare to their peers and the industry. Not only has the FCRA set requirements on dispute investigation and response, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) also is paying close attention. Recent announcements indicate that the CFPB wants more information about the credit eco-system to gain more data about consumer disputes. At Experian we understand the complexities that exist with a dispute and partner with financial institutions and regulatory agencies to shed more light on why a consumer disputes data on their credit report and how together we can resolve the issues and improve the customer experience. Join this Vision 2015 session to hear about Experian’s National Credit Assistance Center (NCAC) and how the team assists consumers with disputes and dedicated fraud assistance. Our agents had conversations with consumers more than 2.5 million times last year. The NCAC’s highly skilled and knowledgeable agents know that their role goes beyond processing disputes — it has been proven that educated consumers are more creditworthy and have higher credit scores than those without credit education. For that reason, for many years our center has employed a Stop the Clock philosophy where agent performance is measured on how well he or she assists a consumer and not how long a call takes. Our agents understand that calling a credit bureau can be intimidating so they deliver red carpet service,—making sure the consumer understands the process and walks them through any concerns and questions they have about their credit report. When it comes to data accuracy, the NCAC management team has more than 100 years combined of credit bureau experience and is dedicated to working in partnership with data furnishers in data accuracy and dispute processing initiatives. They routinely work with data furnishers on issues such as training, processes and procedures and offer consultative expertise. Hear more about how the NCAC makes a difference for Experian’s clients and for their customers. Remember… Data accuracy is more important the ever. Get a copy of the FCRA booklet, read about data-furnisher obligations, and start testing and sampling data right away. Learn more about how Experian Data Integrity Services can help validate data accuracy and provide insight into disputes. Consider visiting the NCAC to see firsthand how the Experian team assists with disputes, truly “stops the clock,” and goes above and beyond for our clients’ customers.
The following article is a guest post from Laura Levine, president and CEO of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy® As we wrap up another Financial Literacy Month, it’s fun to look back at how far we’ve come; important to look forward at how much further we have to go; and compelling to look closely at how we’re making a difference. A decade and a half ago, the National Endowment for Financial Education established “Financial Literacy for Youth Day” in conjunction with its High School Financial Planning Program. Recognizing the groundswell of support beginning to build for financial literacy, NEFE turned the idea over to Jump$tart to promote April among its national partners first as “Financial Literacy for Youth Month” and later as simply “Financial Literacy Month.” Congress recognized it officially with a resolution in 2003 and more recently, the month has also been recognized as “National Financial Capability Month.” By any name, it’s been gratifying to see individuals and organizations across the country, united as we’ve raised awareness on the importance of financial literacy or capability, and the need for more and better financial education. It’s been particularly encouraging to see the renewed focus on financial literacy for young people. President Obama’s current advisory council is officially the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans. Other prominent entities, including the 22-agency Financial Literacy and Education Commission and the national Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy; have placed heavy emphasis on financial literacy for youth. Experian was at the table as Jump$tart was forming—two decades ago—on the notion that we should educate young people about money before they start making independent financial decisions as adult consumers and are sometimes required to learn by trial and costly error. And while many experts agree that the best financial education starts at home, there is also widespread recognition that not all families can or will provide their own children with a sufficient introduction to money management and that we must all work together to help provide financial education to students in school, after school, at home and in their communities. In the early days of Jump$tart and the concerted financial literacy movement, much of our energy focused on what students needed to know about money and what skills they needed to develop. Consequently, we saw a rush to develop new programs and materials and assess how much students actually knew. We found it wasn’t much. We had our work cut out for us; but we knew we had started down the right path. At the dawn of the 21st Century, innovators sought ways to utilize technology as a means of delivering financial education to more students and adults alike—to deliver it faster; more efficiently. We watched as technology made financial education more interactive, more engaging, and, presumably, more effective. Financial education was getting better and we were reaching more students; but still, there was much to be done. In recent years, Jump$tart turned a good deal of its attention to the support of classroom educators—the talented and dedicated teachers who bring personal finance to life in their classrooms every day—because isn’t it an effective teacher who does more than impart knowledge and know-how? Isn’t it an effective teacher who has the opportunity and ability to affect young lives? That’s what Jump$tart believes. It’s what I believe, personally. Fortunately for us, it’s what our friend Maxine Sweet believes too, and in 2009, she not only prompted Experian to provide us with a generous grant; but also, helped to inspire the first national conference dedicated to the teaching of personal finance in K-12 classrooms. The Jump$tart National Educator Conference, now in its seventh year, has introduced personal finance teachers from every state in the country to new approaches and information, a variety of resources, and each other—effectively giving every finance teacher, who may be the only one at his or her school, a nationwide network of colleagues. Teachers who attended our most recent conference reported that, collectively, they would teach 38,654 students this year alone. Since most will go on to teach for years to come and since new teachers attend our conference every year; the impact will be exponential. Just this April, we were so pleased to have had the opportunity to recognize Maxine Sweet, recently retired as the vice president of consumer education for Experian, with our William E. Odom Visionary Leadership Award. The award recognized her unique contributions to financial education, as well as to consumer education in her role with Experian. With support from, and working alongside, Experian and many other partners from business, finance, education, academia, government, non-profits, and other sectors, Jump$tart will continue to promote top quality financial education resources, effective programs and techniques, and support for classroom teachers and other educators—including parents and caregivers. Sometimes, when our critics question why we haven’t fixed our nation’s financial literacy problems yet, I’ve heard advocates remind them that financial education, like all education, is much more a marathon than a sprint. But I don’t see it as a race at all, as even a marathon has a finish line. I think financial education deserves a permanent role in the upbringing of young consumers. Even as we work diligently to expand, improve, and evolve the way we conduct this education, we’ll never really be done; because every spring there’s a new class of graduates and every fall, there’s a new class of preschoolers.
Today, we stand at the forefront of a digital revolution that is reshaping the financial services industry. And, against this backdrop, financial institutions are at vastly different levels of maturity; the world’s biggest banks are managing large-scale infrastructure migrations and making significant investments in AI while regional banks and credit unions are putting plans in place for modernization strategies, and fintechs are purpose-built and cloud native. To explore this more, I recently had the privilege of attending the annual Reuters NEXT live event in New York City. The event gathers globally recognized leaders across business, finance, technology, and government to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues. On the World Stage, I joined Del Irani, a talented anchor and broadcast journalist, to discuss the future of lending and the pivotal role of data and AI in building a more inclusive financial system. Improving financial access Our discussion highlighted the lack of access to traditional financial systems, and the impact it has on nearly 100 million people in North America alone. Globally, the problem affects over one billion people. These people, who are credit invisible, unscoreable, or have subprime credit scores, are unable to secure everyday financial products that many of us take for granted. What many don’t realize is, this is not a fringe subset of the population. Most of us, myself included, know someone who has faced the challenges of financial exclusion. Everyday Americans, including young people who are just starting out, new immigrants and people from diverse communities, often lack access to mainstream financial products. We discussed how traditional lending has a limited view of a consumer. Like looking through a keyhole, the lender’s understanding of the person in view is often incomplete and obstructed. However, with expanded data, technology, and advanced analytics, there is an opportunity to better understand the whole person, and as a result have a more inclusive financial system. At Experian, we have a unique ability to connect the power of traditional credit with alternative data, bringing a more holistic understanding of consumers and their behaviors. We are dedicated to leveraging our rich history in data and our expertise in technology to create the future of credit and ultimately bring financial power to everyone. The future of lending After spending two days with over 700 industry leaders from around the world, one thing is abundantly clear: much like the early days of the internet, today, we are at the cutting-edge of a technical revolution. Reflecting on my time at Reuters NEXT, I am particularly excited by the collective commitment to drive innovative, and smarter ways of working. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of how data and technology can transform financial services, and Experian is positioned to play a significant role. As we look to the future, I am excited about the ways we will create new opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.
The advertising ecosystem has seen significant transformation over the past few years, with increased privacy regulation, changes in available signals, and the rise of channels like connected TV and retail media. These changes are impacting the way that consumers interact with brands and how brands understand and continue to deliver relevant messages to consumers with precision. Experian has been helping marketers navigate these changes, and as a result, our marketing data and identity solutions underpin much of today’s advertising industry. We’re committed to empowering marketers and agencies to understand and reach their target audiences, across all channels. Today, we are excited to announce our acquisition of Audigent—a leading data and activation platform in the advertising industry. With Audigent’s combination of first-party publisher data, inventory and deep supply-side distribution relationships, publishers, big and small, can empower marketers to better understand their customers, expand the reach of their target audiences and activate those audiences across the most impactful inventory. I am excited to bring together Audigent’s supply-side network as a natural extension to our existing demand-side capabilities. Audigent’s ability to combine inventory with targeted audiences using first-party, third-party and contextual signals provides the best of all worlds, allowing marketers to deliver campaigns centered on consumer choices, preferences, and behaviors. The addition of Audigent further strengthens our strategy to be the premier independent provider of marketing data and identity, ultimately creating more relevant experiences for consumers. To learn more about Experian and Audigent, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/ and https://audigent.com/.
When it comes to cybercriminals and threat vectors, we need to expect the unexpected. Experian’s 12th annual Data Breach Industry Forecast highlights several potential trends for 2025, with AI playing a central role. This year has already seen more data breaches and impacted consumers than 2023, indicating that global data breaches are not slowing down. Some things to watch out for next year includes the potential for more internal fraud. As companies train employees on AI, there is a growing risk that some will misuse their knowledge for internal theft and sourcing sensitive information. Another trend may be cyberattackers targeting large data centers, with the growth of generative AI introducing power as a new attack vector. It’s reported that a single ChatGPT query uses significantly more electricity than a standard Google search, making data centers and cloud infrastructure vulnerable, especially in countries with varying security standards. We expect AI-related attacks to dominate the headlines next year and investments in cybersecurity will increase to tackle this emerging threat, as hackers leverage AI for phishing, password cracking, malware, and deepfakes. Jim Steven, Head of Crisis and Data Response Services at Experian Global Data Breach Resolution in the UK, anticipates that global data breaches will persist at their current rate next year. He notes that ransomware attacks are likely to become even more sophisticated with the integration of AI. Additionally, Steven predicts that threat actors will escalate their tactics to achieve greater rewards, and the misuse of consumer data to damage reputations will increase in 2025. To access the complimentary report, click here.